The Governor and the Lieutenant Governor continued to be the only statewide elected officials. Since November 1842, the election has been held on a single day, the date fixed on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November (the date thus ranging from November 2 to 8). In 1844, four Canal Commissioners were also elected statewide. In 1846, the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and two Canal Commissioners were elected. All other statewide officials were elected by joint ballot of the state legislature . The Constitution of 1846 made most of the state offices elective by popular ballot. From 1847 on, the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, State Comptroller, State Treasurer, State Engineer, three Canal Commissioners, three Prison Inspectors, four judges and the Clerk of the New York Court of Appeals were elected statewide with different terms in office. From 1870 on, a Chief Judge and six associate judges of the Court of Appeals were elected, and since then the Clerk of the Court of Appeals has been appointed by the Court. In 1876, the offices of Canal Commissioner and Inspector of State Prisons were abolished, and their successors were appointed by the governor. From 1914 on, the U.S. senators from New York were elected statewide too. The offices of the Treasurer and the State Engineer were abolished in 1926. The office of Secretary of State became appointive by the Governor in 1927. Since 1938, the legislative term is two years for both state senators and assemblymen, so that state elections are held now only in even-numbered years. Until 1973, judges of the Court of Appeals were occasionally elected in odd-numbered years, and the judges of the New York Court of Appeals became appointed in 1978. Party trends and geography The balance of the parties was formerly less decided, with a large Democratic majority in populous New York City, Rochester and Buffalo, but Republican dominance in the upstate and the eastern part of Long Island. Historically, the only Democratic outpost in upstate New York was Albany. In recent years, with the political transformation of former Republican strongholds of Long Island, the Hudson Valley and the Syracuse area, New York has grown more reliably Democratic. In particular, Westchester County currently has a Democratic county legislature for only the second time in three decades. Unlike most states, New York electoral law permits electoral fusion; thus New York ballots tend to show